c 

' , v , 

The  Texas  Pacific  Railway 


( A Dependency  of  the  Great  Pennsylvania  Monopoly ) 

CONTRASTED  WITH 

A Real  Southern  Pacific  R.  R. 

♦ 

ALONG  THE  THIRTY-SECOND  PARALLEL  OF  LATITUDE, 
HAVING  TERMINI  AND  CONNECTIONS 
IN  SOUTHERN  STATES. 


A LETTER  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


THOMAS  M.  NORWOOD, 

Of  Savannah , Georgia. 


1878. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/texaspacificrailOOnorw 


385. t 

Texas  Pacific  Railroad  Subsidy. 

Would  it  Benefit  or  Injure  the  South? 


To  the  People  of  the  Southern  States  : — 

The  Hon.  J.  C.  Brown,  Vice-President  of  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  has  recently  issued  an  address  to 
you  in  advocacy  of  that  road,  and  of  its  claims  to  your  favor. 
As  a Southern  man,  desirous  of  promoting  a genuine  Southern 
road,  more  than  as  the  representative  and  counsel  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  in  the  South,  I respectfully 
request  your  attention  to  the  following  reply. 

As  many  persons  do  not  understand  the  difference  between 
the  two  companies,  I will  briefly  state  it. 

The  Southern  Pacific  is  a California  company.  It  has  con- 
structed the  greater  part  of  a road  from  San  Francisco  south- 
east to  Fort  Yuma,  720  miles,  and  is  now  extending  it  into 
Arizona.  The  Texas  and  Pacific  is  a company  organized 
under  a law  of  Texas.  It  is  the  successor  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  of  Texas. 

In  1871,  Congress  granted  to  the  Texas  and  Pacific  the  right 
to  build  a road  from  Marshall,  Texas,  to  San  Diego,  California, 
and  to  the  Southern  Pacific,  a company  that  was  then  build- 
ing a line  down  into  Southern  California,  the  right  to  connect 
with  the  Texas  and  Pacific  at  or  near  Fort  Yuma,  on  the 
Colorado  river,  which  bounds  California  east  and  Arizona 
west.  The  Southern  Pacific  was  required  to  build  fifty  miles 
a year  of  this  thirty-second  parallel  connection,  or  to  finish  its 
three  hundred  and  fifty  mile  road  within  seven  years.  That 
company  completed  its  work  before  the  time  thus  limited  had 
expired.  It  complied  fully  with  the  law  of  Congress. 

LAND-GRABBING  IN  NORTHEAST  TEXAS. 

What  has  the  Texas  and  Pacific  company  done?  It  was  re- 
quired to  build  west  from  Marshall  not  less  than  one  hundred 
miles  a year,  and  not  less  than  twenty-five  miles  east  from  San 


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Diego  every  year,  and  “so  to  complete”  its  road  within  ten 
years.  The  Act  of  Texas  confirming  to  that  company  the  right 
of  way  across  the  State,  and  giving  it  over  twenty-two  million 
acres  of  land  in  alternate  sections,  was  passed  in  May,  1872. 
The  Texas  and  Pacific,  from  1871  to  this  day,  has  built  but  one 
hundred  and  eiglity-four  miles  west  from  Marshall  to  Fort 
Worth,  and  not  a foot  of  road  east  from  San  Diego.  It  has 
built  more  miles  of  road,  but  they  are  of  no  use  to  the  South 
as  a trans-continental  road.  They  run  northeast  from  Marshall 
to  Texarkana,  and  thence  west  to  Sherman,  Texas,  and 
parallel  with  and  not  a hundred  miles  from  the  trunk  line  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty-four  miles  from  Marshall  to  Fort 
Worth — I say  “trunk  line”  in  courtesy  to  the  company; 
for  as  the  trunk  line  which  the  Texas  and  Pacific  promised,  in 
1871,  to  build  for  us  in  ten  years  was  to  be  over  sixteen  hun- 
dred miles  long — the  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  miles  built 
and  bought  by  the  Texas  and  Pacific  looks  to  the  Southern  peo- 
ple more  like  a “carpet-bag”  than  a “trunk”  line.  I will 
show  you  before  I am  done,  that  this  company  has  other 
features  of  the  “ carpet-bagger,”  so  familiar  to  the  South,  in 
her  railroad  experience  from  1868  to  1876. 

But  Governor  Brown  said,  in  Charleston,  before  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  in  explaining  why  the  Texas  and  Pacific 
had  neglected  to  comply  with  the  Act  of  Congress  requiring 
“not  less  than  one  hundred  miles  to  be  built  west  from  Mar- 
shall every  year  ;”  that  the  law  of  Texas  required  the  Texas 
and  Pacific  to  build  from  Marshall  northeast  to  Texarkana 
and  west  to  Sherman.  Well,  we  will  take  that  as  true,  and 
give  the  company  full  credit.  Then,  what  does  it  avail  the 
company  ? The  Act  of  Congress  and  the  Act  of  Texas  were 
both  passed  in  1872.  The  company,  headed  by  Mr.  T.  A. 
Scott,  ought  to  have  known  whether  they  could  comply  with 
both  requirements.  Congress  was  mandatory  : “ not  less  than 
one  hundred  miles  a year  shall  be  built”  west  from  Marshall 
to  San  Diego  If  Mr.  Scott  was  not  able  to  do  both,  or  either, 
why  did  he  not  tell  us  so  frankly,  and  leave  the  South  to  look 
to  another  company  ? But  why  comply  with  the  law  of  Texas 
and  neglect  the  requirements  of  Congress?  Why  do  this  if 
he  desired  to  build  a Trans-Continental  Road?  The  reason  is 
confessed  by  Mr.  Scott,  in  an  argument  before  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Railroads,  in  December,  1874,  when  asking  for 
a subsidy,  in  credit,  of  over  $60, ()()(), 000,  he  said  that  the  Texas 
& Pacific  have  32£>  miles  of  road  located  in  the  “garden 


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lands”  of  Texas.  By  building  North  from  the  trunk  line, 
he  secured  an  immense  body  of  lands  in  the  finest  portion  of 
Texas.  Nearly  five  million  acres  are  thus  secured.  Congress 
gave,  by  the  Act  of  1871,  eighteen  million  acres  in  Arizona, 
New  Mexico  and  California  (see  Scott’s  Annual  Report, 
1877,  page  25).  So  that  the  Texas  and  Pacific  had  over  forty 
million  acres  under  grants  by  Congress  and  Texas. 

Knowing  now  why  the  Texas  and  Pacific  preferred  to  obey 
Texas  and  not  Congress,  let  us  see  if  that  company  could  have 
obeyed  both.  In  other  words,  could  it  have  built  West  from 
Marshall  as  well  as  North  from  Marshall  toward  St.  Louis, 
where  Mr.  Scott’s  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroad  has  its 
Western-Southern  terminus.  This  I can  only  answer  by  giv- 
I ing  Mr.  Scott’s  statement  (same  Report,  page  11)  of  the  in- 
debtedness of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  to  1st  June,  1877.  That 
indebtedness  was  $27,609,004.32,  less  $318,985.02  surplus.  For 
this  the  company  has  444  miles  of  road  with  rolling  stock  and 
usual  appurtenances.  The  road  has  cost  over  $62,000  a mile, 
according  to  this  showing.  The  highest  estimate  I have  ever 
heard  for  constructing  a road  in  the  32d  parallel  is  $35,000  a 
mile.  Governor  Brown  said,  in  Charleston,  it  can  be  built  for 
$30,000  a mile,  and  Mr.  Scott  is  now  asking  for  a guaranty  by 
the  government  of  five  per  cent  interest  on  $27,500  a mile, 
while  holding  this  vast  land  grant  in  Texas.  It  is  evident, 
from  these  figures,  that  more  than  four  hundred  and  forty- 
four  miles  of  road  could  have  been  constructed  with  the 
amount  reported  as  expended. 

THE  CONSTRUCTION  COMPANY  PARASITE. 

So,  we  have  here  a genuine  Southern  carpet  bagger  “devel- 
opment,” mammoth  railroad  enterprise.  First,  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  sets  out  to  build  a road  with  no  help,  except  the 
40,000,000  acres  of  land.  It  starts  from  Marshall,  west,  but 
stops  to  throw  ’a  drag-net  into  Northeast  Texas  to  catch  five 
million  acres  of  that  “garden  region.”  Having  lassoed  them, 
and  not  regarding  the  law  of  Congress,  it  holds  this  “garden 
region  ” and  comes  to  Congress  and  says  it  is  impossible  to  go 
a mile  further  without  help.  Such  was  our  experience  with 
the  carpet  bag  developers  in  Georgia,  Alabama  and  all  the  re- 
constructed States./  This  Texas  and  Pacific  has  a parasite. 
The  Texas  and  Pacific  has  had,  and  has,  its  Credit  Mobiler, 
known  as  The  California  and  Texas  Railway  Construction 
Company.  These  construction  companies  are,  as  a rule,  com- 


6 


posed  of  officers  of  the  railroad  company.  The  officers  of 
the  railroad  company  contract  with  themselves,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  construction  company  (under  another  name  of 
course),  and  they  fix  their  own  prices  and  charge  the  stock- 
holders with  the  cost  of  construction,  and  put  the  money  in 
their  own  pockets.  I do  not  say  that  the  officers  of  the  Texas 
and  Pacific  have  done  this,  but  Mr.  Herbert  of  Alabama,  in  a 
speech  delivered  in  Congress  last  June,  openly  charged,  that 
Mr.  Scott,  the  President  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  was  a mem- 
ber of  the  California  and  Texas  Railway  Construction  Com- 
pany, and  no  one  denied  the  charge.  If  this  be  true,  it  is 
enough  to  awaken  our  grave  suspicions,  and  to  make  us  look 
closely  for  a trap,  lest  we  walk  into  it.  There  are  tracks  of 
carpet  baggers  along  this  enterprise,  and  this  is  sufficient  to 
put  the  South  on  its  lookout. 

I think  the  foregoing  is  enough  to  satisfy  any  one  that  the 
Texas  & Pacific  is  unable  to  build  a road  to  San  Diego,  or  to 
Ft.  Yuma  or  El  Paso,  or  to  any  point,  without  a subsidy. 
But  Mr.  Scott  and  Gov.  Brown  admit  the  fact.  In  1874,  Mr. 
Scott  left  off  his  work,  and  went  to  Congress  for  aid.  He 
began  by  asking  for  over  sixty  millions  and  has  fallen  to 
thirty-eight  and  three-quarter  millions.  The  pending  Bill 
calls  for  the  latter  sum.  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  Mr.  Scott 
knows  how  much  he  needs,  and  that  he  speaks  what  he 
knows.  If  so,  the  South  must  agree  to  vote  him  all  he  asks, 
and  a little  more,  should  his  calculation  be  short  of  his  wants, 
or  do  without  a road  in  the  thirty-second  parallel,  or  look  to 
some  one  else  to  build  it. 

DO  THE  MANAGERS  DESIRE  A SOUTHERN  ROAD? 

But,  even  if  this  enormous  amount  should  be  voted  to  the 
Texas  & Pacific,  will  it  build  a southern  road  ; that  is,  a road 
which  would  benefit  the  Southern  States  east;  of  Texas  ? We 
can  get  light  on  this  question,  and,  probably,  answer  it  to  our 
satisfaction,  by  taking  a brief  view  of  the  action  of  this  Com- 
pany. It  began  work  in  1871.  In  May,  1872,  Congress  passed 
an  amendatory  act  requiring  so  many  miles  a year,  to  be  built 
as  already  stated  above.  If  the  Company  really  intended  to 
build  a southern  road  to  run  from  San  Diego  to  the  Mississippi 
River,  on  the  32d  parallel,  its  action  ought  to  show  it.  The 
reason  for  building  it  northeast  from  Marshall  to  Texarkana,  69 
miles,  in  a line  toward  St.  Louis,  is  explained  by  Governor 
Brown  as  a necessity  under  the  statute  of  Texas.  So  far  let 


7 


us  give  credit.  I am  willing  to  give  that  Company  all  the 
credit  it  can  show  reason  for.  But  when  we  see  hereafter  how 
it  has  repeatedly  tried  to  climb  up  toward  St.  Louis  as  its 
eastern  terminus,  the  most  credulous  may  be  excused  for  sus- 
pecting that  the  Texas  & Pacific  was  not  over  indignant  at  the 
State  of  Texas  for  the  compulsory  mandate  to  build  northeast  in 
the  direction  of  its  fondest  yearning.  This  penal  condition  is 
not  unlike  the  old  fable  of  the  rabbit  that  prayed  to  be  thrown 
in  the  fire,  in  the  water — anywhere — except  the  brier  patch. 
Now  to  the  facts. 

In  1874,  Mr.  Scott  applied  to  Congress  for  a subsidy  for  the 
Texas  & Pacific.  In  the  same  bill  he  asked  for  an  equal  sub- 
sidy for  the  Atlantic  & Pacific.  This  Company  was  to  build 
southwest  from  Vinita,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, and  connect  with  the  Texas  & Pacific,  at  or  near  south- 
east corner  of  New  Mexico.  From  Philadelphia  to  St.  Louis 
the  Pennsylvania  Central  and  its  leased  lines- extend.  From 
St.  Louis  to  Vinita  runs  the  St.  Louis  & San  Francisco  Rail- 
road southwest,  (formerly  the  Atlantic  & Pacific)  which  would  be 
but  an  extension  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central  to  the  Texas  & 
Pacific,  and  thence  by  and  over  the  Texas  & Pacific  to  the  Pacific 
coast.  Mr.  Scott  was  President  of  the  Union  Pacific,  which 
extends  from  Omaha  to  Ogden,  but  in  1871  he  was  deposed, 
and  he  naturally  desired  to  establish  another  connection  with 
the  Pacific  for  the  Pennsylvania  Central,  of  which  he  was  and 
is  President.  And  the  only  practicable  route  was  on  or  near 
the  32d  parallel.  He  knew  that  the  open  proposition  to  build 
southwest  from  St.  Louis  must  meet  with  opposition,  North 
and  South,  and  that  the  only  feasible  method  was  to  cultivate 
Southern  favor  by  the  promise  of  a road  running  due  west  on 
the  32d  parallel. 

In  1875,  another  bill  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Wells,  of  Mo., 
asking  for  a subsidy  to  the  same  roads — the  Atlantic  & Pacific 
and  Texas  & Pacific. 

In  1876,  Senator  Dorsey,  of  Arkansas,  introduced  a similar 
bill.  This  bill  contained  a new  and  very  striking  feature,  most 
adroitly  drawn.  It  reads : “The  Texas  & Pacific  Railway 
Company  is  hereby  authorized  to  construct,  that  part  of  its 
line  from  Sherman,  Texas,  via  Fort  Worth,  westwardly  &c.” 
Then  follows,  a page  further  on,  this  sly — very  sly — language  : 
“Said  Texas  & Pacific  Railway  shall  be  constructed  and  put 
in  operation  continuously  from  its  eastern  terminus  at  Texar- 
kana, and  from  a point  on  the  east  boundary  line  of  Texas, 


s 


where  a connection  is  made  with  the  line  to  Shreveport,  to  a 
point  of  junction,  as  herein  provided,  with  the  Atlantic  & 
Pacific,  &c.” 

TRYING  TO  SHIFT  THE  TERMINUS  NORTHWARD. 

Here  are  three  significant  facts.  First.  From  Sherman  to 
Fort  Worth  is  declared  to  be  a part  of  the  line  of  the  Texas 
& Pacific.  The  Acts  of  Congress  of  1871  and  1872  made  the 
line  from  Marshall  to  Dallas  the  road  of  the  Texas  & Pacific. 
Second.  The  “ eastern  terminus  ” of  the  Texas  & Pacific  is 
declared  to  be  at  Texarkana.  Third.  The  original  eastern 
terminus,  Marshall,  is  spoken  of  as  “ a point  ” and  not  as  a 
terminus. 

This  bill  was  intended  to  change  the  original  line  which  se- 
duced the  Southern  people  to  Mr.  Scott’s  aid,  and  make  it  run 
from  Texarkana  (the  eastern  terminus)  west  to  Sherman,  and 
thence  southwest  to  Fort  Worth.  This  would  have  placed  the 
road  about  seventy  miles  further  north  and  nearer  to  St.  Louis. 
This  attempt  was  made  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  the  act  of 
1872,  amending  the  charter  of  the  Texas  & Pacific,  a signifi- 
cant proviso  was  contained  forbidding  a change  of  the  east- 
ern terminus  from  Marshall. 

We  can  begin  to  see  why  Texas  so  cruelly  commanded  Mr. 
Scott  to  build  northeast  from  Marshall  to  Texarkana  and  west 
to  Sherman,  to  seize  all  her  fat  lands  in  that  “garden  region,” 
and  why  she  drove  him  so  much  nearer  to  his  home  at  St. 
Louis,  against  his  angry  protest  of  course. 

Again,  in  1877,  Mr.  Lamar,  Chairman  of  the  House  Com- 
mittee on  Pacific  Railroads,  reported  a bill  which  couples  the 
Texas  & Pacific  and  Atlantic  & Pacific — giving  both  a subsidy 
— and  connecting  the.  latter  with  the  former  between  the  100th 
and  99th  of  longitude. 

In  1878  the  Atlantic  & Pacific  was  dropped  as  dead  weight ; 
but  can  any  one  doubt  that  the  Vinita  road  is  still  a part  of 
Mr.  Scott’s  scheme. 

These  facts  are  almost  a demonstration  of  the  settled  pur- 
pose of  the  Texas  & Pacific  to  slew  the  eastern  end  of  its  Toad 
around  to  St.  Loiys.  But  there  are  other  facts  still. 

Of  the  eighteen  officers  of  the  Texas  & Pacific,  only  three 
live  south  of  the  Ohio,  Gov.  Brown,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents, 
in  Tennessee,  W.  C.  Hall,  in  Kentucky,  and  W.  M.  Harrison, 
in  Texas.  The  President,  First  Vice-President,  Secretary, 
Treasurer,  and  seven  of  the  directors  reside  in  Pennsylvania, 


9 


and,  I believe,  in  Philadelphia.  The  presumption  is  very  vio- 
lent that  these  gentlemen  are  burning  with  zeal  to  develop  the 
South  and  southern  interests,  and  to  destroy  the  Pennsylvania 
Central,  with  its  seventeen  leased  railroads  of  over  3,000  miles 
all  north  of  the  Ohio.  It  is  more  than  natural  for  Mr.  Scott 
to  spend  an  enormous  sum  of  money  in  Washington  and  over 
the  South,  to  procure  legislation  to  enable  him  to  build  a road 
to  compete  with  the  Pennsylvania  Central.  The  southern 
people  are  trusting — but  not  idiotic.  We  have  too  much 
respect  for  Mr.  Scott’s  judgment  and  business  sense — too  high 
regard  for  his  honesty  and  faithfulness  to  a sacred  trust,  to 
suspect  him  of  ever  having  intended  to  build  a really  southern 
road,  one  which  would  be  tributary  to  Galveston,  New  Or- 
leans, Vicksburg,  Memphis,  Montgomery,  Atlanta,  Nash- 
ville, Columbus,  Macon,  Augusta,  Savannah,  Charleston^ 
Columbia,  Wilmington,  Raleigh,  Richmond  and  Norfolk,  and 
all  the  country  surrounding  these  cities.  If  Mr.  Scott  seriously 
intends  to  build  such  a road  he  ought,  from  common  honesty, 
to  resign  the  Presidency  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  desires  a feeder  from  the  Pacific,  and  we  of 
the  South  are  willing  to  vote  him  money  to  build  it,  at  our  ex- 
pense, he  should  not  be  censured  ; for  he  is  looking  to  his  own 
interests,  and  is  only  trying  to  make  his  dry  stock  give  milk 
again.  The  South,  though,  would  wear  bells  ever  after. 

THE  MISSISSIPPI  EXTENSION— HOW  NOT  TO  BUILD  IT. 

But  there  is  another  fact,  should  the  South,  by  her  vote  in 
Congress,  give  money  or  credit  to  the  Texas  & Pacific,  where 
would  be  its  eastern  terminus?  We  have  seen  that  one  bill 
would  have  fixed  it  at  Texarkana.  And  has  Mr.  Scott  or 
Gov.  Brown  ever  said  where  it  shall  be  ? This  is  the  place  on 
their  road  where  they  always  shy  or  back,  or  run  away.  It 
is  a dangerous  point,  and  like  the  text  “ which  could  be  found 
somewhere  between  the  first  chapter  of  Generations  and  the 
last  of  Revelations” — the  eastern  terminus,  they  tell  us,  will 
be  found  some  day  between  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and 
its  source. 

The  only  concession  that  the  Texas  and  Pacific  has  ever 
made  on  this  question,  was  made  at  the  last  session  of  Con- 
gress, in  and  by  the  Bill  reported  by  Senator  Matthews.  This 
section  of  the  Bill  is  so  exquisitely  indefinite,  so  Talleyrandish 
— concealing  by  language  its  meaning— so  verbosely  generous 
and  fair,  and  yet  so  elaborate  in  nothingness,  that  I will  not 


10 


mar  it  by  a paraphrase.  It  is  one  of  the  curiosities  in  legisla- 
tive literature,  and  illustrates  the  genius  of  Mr.  Scott,  or  Gov. 
Brown,  or  its  author,  “ how  not  to  do  it.” 

Sec.  12.  That  in  order  to  secure  the  accomplishment  of  the  original  and 
present  design  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company,  that  is  to  say,  a main 
trunk-line  communication  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Pacific  coast, 
the  said  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company  is  hereby  authorized  and  required 
to  acquire  or  construct,  maintain,  and  operate  the  said  main  trunk-road  from  a 
point  of  said  main  trunk,  as  now  constructed,  to  the  Mississippi  River,  at  the 
most  practicable  point,  as  may  hereafter  be  designated,  to  be  determined  in  the 
manner  hereinafter  provided  ; and  when  the  points  so  mentioned  are  determined, 
the  first-mortgage  bonds  of  said  company  may  be  executed  and  issued,  not  to 
exceed  at  the  rate  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  per  mile,  for  purposes  of  construct- 
ing or  purchasing,  owning,  controlling,  and  equipping  such  part  of  said  Texas 
and  Pacific  Railway  : Provided , That  said  mortgage  shall  not  embrace  or  consti- 
tute a lien  upon  any  property,  franchise,  or  security  pledged  as  an  indemnity  to 
the  government  for  the  guarantee  of  interest  on  the  bonds  issued  to  construct 
any  portion  of  the  line  between  Fort  Worth  and  San  Diego.  And  to  make  and  per- 
fect the  highway  aforesaid  in  such  manner  as  may  do  equal  and  exact  justice  to 
all  sections  of  the  country  to  be  affected  thereby,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  within  sixty  days  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  to 
appoint  five  commissioners,  three  of  whom  shall  be  the  three  engineer  officers  of 
the  United  States  highest  in  rank,  and  all  of  them  wholly  unconnected  with,  and 
free  from  all  personal  or  corporate  interest  in,  any  of  the  proposed  routes  be- 
tween Texas  and  the  Mississippi  River,  and  also  free  from  all  personal  or  corpor- 
ate interest  in  any  railroad  company  from  any  point  on  or  connecting  with  the 
Mississippi  River  and  the  Atlantic  or  Gulf  coast,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  ex- 
amine the  various  proposed  routes  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  present 
constructed  road  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company;  and  after  consid- 
ering all  questions  of  distance,  cost,  and  transportation-routes,  in  view  of  foreign 
as  well  as  domestic  trade  and  commerce,  and  also  in  view  of  an  eligible  connec- 
tion with  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  to  report  where  in  their  judgment  the  proposed 
addition  eastward  of  the  present  main  trunk-line  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Rail- 
way Company  shall  connect  with  the  present  line,  and  where  it  shall  connect 
with  the  Mississippi  River  : Provided , That  the  point  of  connection  with  the 
Mississippi  River  shall  not  be  farther  north  than  the  city  of  Memphis,  Tennes- 
see ; and  their  report,  if  approved  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
final  and  conclusive  in  determining  the  location  of  the  eastern  connection  with 
the  Mississippi  River,  which  shall  then  be  constructed  according  to  the  govern- 
ment standard,  but  without  any  guarantee  of  interest  by  the  government:  Pro- 
7/ided}  however , That  the  authority  of  the  State  or  States  through  which  the  line 
may  be  located  shall  be  obtained  before  the  road  shall  be  built  ; and  that  this 
part  of  said  line  shall  be  built  at  the  rate  of  not  less  than  fifty  miles  per  annum, 
after  the  location  of  the  line  is  determined  on  : And  provided  further , That  the 
eastern  terminus  of  the  said  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  shall  be  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Mississippi  River  wherever  this  point  may  be  designated,  and  which 
terminus  may  be  reached  cither  by  suitable  boats  or  a bridge  over  said  river,  as 
may  be  preferred  by  said  company  : And  provided  further , That  the  said  Texas 
and  Pacific  Railway  Company  shall  have  the  right  to  purchase  the  charter, 
franchises,  and  property  of  any  existing  line,  if  any  there  be,  on  the  selected 
route,  or  construct  a new  one,  at  the  option  of  said  company.  [Senate  Bill  942, 
reported  by  Senator  Matthews.] 


11 


The  President  shall  appoint  commissioners  within  sixty 
days  ! That  means  business.  There  is  nerve  and  energy  in 
that.  Mr.  Scott  lias  spoken  comfort  at  last  to  our  trembling 
souls.  We  gape  like  the  rabble  at  the  reading  of  Caesar’s 
will.  The  terminus  will  be  fixed  within  six  months  at  farthest. 
Of  course  we  expect  to  hear  in  the  very  next  sentence  the 
number  of  days  or  months  allowed  for  fixing  forever  the  east- 
ern terminus.  Let  us  see  : 

When  the  commissioners  examine  all  the  various  proposed 
routes  between  Marshall  and  the  Mississippi  river — when  the 
three  engineer  officers  who  must  be  highest  in  rank  (for  no 
others  can  act)  shall  have  no  interest  in  any  of  the  railroads  ; 
when  the  five  commissioners  shall  have  “considered  all  ques- 
tions of  distance , cost , and  transportation  routes — in  view  of 
foreign  and  domestic  troAe  and  commerce — and  also  in  view 
of  an  (one)  eligible  connection  with  the  Atlantic  seaboard ; 
when  they  shall  report  their  conclusion  ; when  the  President 
shall  agree  with  them,  if  they  should  be  unanimous,  or  with 
the  majority,  if  they  disagree  ; then  the  eastern  terminus  will 
be  fixed  —provided,  however,  the  authority  of  the  State 
through  which  the  line  may  be  located  shall  be  obtained  be- 
fore the  road  shall  be  built,  and  provided  fifty  miles  per 
annum  of  this  line  shall  be  built  after  the  location  of  the  line 
(not  the  terminus ) is  determined  on.  Can  any  man  doubt  the 
cunning  purpose  of  all  this  cumbrous  machinery,  and  these 
many  contingencies,  when  a single  sentence,  honestly  spoken, 
would  have  fixed  the  terminus  at  Memphis  or  Vicksburg  ? 
It  is  time  this  shuffling  and  double-dealing  were  at  an  end, 
and  you  have  the  power  to  stop  it. 

But  this  Bill  is  remarkable  in  other  respects.  I directed 
Gov.  Brown’s  attention,  when  we  discussed  the  merits  of  these 
two  companies  before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  Charleston, 
to  the  fact  that  this  Bill  does  not  contain  a clause  for  forfeiture 
in  the  event  the  Texas  & Pacific  failed  to  build  the  connection 
east  from  Marshall  to  the  Mississippi  river.  His  reply  was, 
that  there  was  such  a clause  in  the  House  Bill.  “He  asked 
the  Senate  to  adopt  the  House  Bill,  but  when  they  came  to 
consider  it,  they  did  so  with  closed  doors,  and  afterwards  these 
discrepancies  were  discovered.”  This  explanation  is  wholly 
unsatisfactory.  All  committees  of  the  Senate  sit  with  closed 
doors  when  acting  on  Bills.  They  sit  often  with  open  doors 
when  hearing  arguments,  but  never  when  making  up  judg- 
ment. But,  whether  in  open  or  secret  session,  would  any 


12 


committee  of  its  own  motion,  omit  a provision  consented  to  by 
the  company,  which  was  for  the  protection  of  the  Government,, 
or  the  people  ? The  location  of  the  eastern  terminus  hinged 
on  that  clause,  for  without  it,  the  Texas  & Pacific  could  not  be 
compelled  to  build  east  of  Marshall.  I leave  this  awkward 
question  just  where  it  is,  with  the  remark  that  I acquit  both 
the  committee  and  Gov.  Brown  of  the  responsibility  of  omit- 
ting that  most  important  provision  of  the  Bill.  Some  one  is 
responsible  for  it,  and  it  was  not  done  by  the  Government,  or 
the  people,  or  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 

WHO  DICTATES  THE  COMPANY’S  POLICY  ? 

When  I charged,  in  the  discussion  with  Gov.  Brown,  in 
Charleston,  that  the  Pennsylvania  Central  had  intended  from 
the  beginning,  and  intends  now  to  get,  if  it  can,  a South- 
west connection  from'  St.  Louis,  via  Vinita,  and  that  the  Bill 
advocated  by  Mr.  Scott  before  the  Senate  Committee,  in 
December,  1874,  asked  for  a subsidy  for  the  Texas  and  Pacific 
and  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  which  runs  from  Vinita  South- 
west. Gov.  Brown  replied  in  these  words,  “Our  Bill  now 
does  not  ask  for  any  branch  from  Vinita  to  St.  Louis,  nor  did 
the  company  (Texas  and  Pacific)  desire  it.  They  (the  Texas 
and  Pacific)  acted  in  good  faith  under  the  recommendations 
of  the  St.  Louis  Convention.”  Now,  this  is  evidence  of  what 
I have  always  suspected,  which  is,  that  Governor  Brown  is 
not  in  the  innermost  secrets  of  Tom  Scott  and  that  Cabal 
seated  in  Philadelphia,  and  known  there  as  the  Pennsylvania 
Central,  and  West  of  the  Mississippi  as  the  Texas  and  Pacific. 
For  note  this  fact!  Governor  Brown  says  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  Company  included  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Company 
in  its  Bill  asking  for  a subsidy,  not  because  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  desired  the  Vinita  branch  built,  but,  simply  in  defer- 
ence to  the  recommendations  of  the  St.  Louis  Convention. — 
Now  note  this ! Tom  Scott  made  his  argument  before  the 
Senate  Committee,  asking  $35,000  a mile  for  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  and  the  Atlantic  and.  Pacific , on  the  4th  of  December, 
1874,  and  the  St.  Louis  Convention  was  not  held  until  the 
23 d of  November , 1 875. 

When  we  see  a Southern  Company  organized  by  Philadel- 
phia men  ; when  we  see  the  President  of  that  Company  also 
the  President  of  another  huge  monopoly  running  to  St.  Louis 

when  we  know  how  deeply  interested  they  are  in  making 
their  investments  in  over  3,000  miles  of  railroad  already  built, 


13 


worth  something,  and  we  fail  to  see  why  capitalists  thus  in- 
volved should  desire  to  build  another  road  South,  which 
would,  if  truly  Southern,  weaken  their  present  railroad  invest- 
ments by  dividing  the  business  ; when  we  see  that  company 
stopping  to  pick  up  rich  lands  instead  of  building  straight  on 
West,  as  Congress  required  and  as  promised  the  South  ; when 
we  see  that  Company  suspending  its  work  for  five  years,  and 
asking  for  a subsidy  far  greater  than  was  necessary  to  build 
the  road,  when  we  see  that  company  from  1874  to  1878  trying 
to  slide  away  from  us  and  get  further  North,  when  we  see  it 
at  the  very  first  jump  starting  69  miles  further  North  than 
Congress  fixed  the  Eastern  terminus ; when  we  see  a Bill 
afterwards  introduced  to  make  this  point  69  miles  further 
North  (Texarkana)  its  eastern  terminus  ; when  we  see  that 
company  refuse,  for  seven  years,  to  say  where  its  terminus  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  shall  be  ; when  we  see  it, 
under  a show  of  the  greatest  fairness,  after  years  of  effort  to 
get  it  to  fix  that  terminus,  inflate  a long  section  with  preten- 
tious words,  which,  on  close  examination,  accomplish  nothing 
except  to  delude  the  public  ; when  we  see  the  Vice  President 
explaining  certain  conduct  of  that  company  by  saying  it  was 
done  to  please  a convention  which  had  never  sat  or  existed, 
thus  showing  he  is  not  acquainted  with  the  motives  of  his 
chief  (Scott) — when  we  see  all  this,  we  may  as  well  do  as  the 
old  farmer  did  when  he  saw  some  tramps  around  the  horse  lot 
about  dark  : “ Bring  the  horses  in  the  house,  boys,  we  had 
better  stand  a little  litter  one  night  than  to  lose’em.”  VYe  had 
better  stand  even  a little  monoply,  than  to  have  our  Southern 
Pacific  Road  taken  from  us  and  carried  bodily  to  St.  Louis ; 
for  once  established  there,  and  passing  over  a bridge  which 
would  take  five  to  seven  million  dollars  to  duplicate,  the  com- 
merce of  the  Pacific,  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and  Mexico  would 
be  forever  lost  to  the  South. 

STANDING  IN  THE  WAY  OF  THOSE  WHO  WILL  BUILD. 

I have  now  concluded  on  the  two  main  questions  affecting 
the  Texas  & Pacific  Railroad,  which  are — first,  its  utter  inabil- 
ity to  build  without  a large  subsidy,  and  the  reasons  for  that 
inability  ; and  second,  its  unwillingness  to  build  such  a road 
as  we  of  the  South  desire  and  need.  And  I come  next  to  the 
claims  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company  of  California.  First, 
can  it  build  without  a subsidy  ? Second,  will  it  build  a road 
w hich  will  not  be  built  as  a feeder  to  northern  lines  of  road  % 


14 


That  this  Company  can  build  and  will  build  I have  no  doubt, 
and  I speak  from  a knowledge  of  their  purpose  and  situation, 
and  some  knowledge  of  their  financial  ability.  They  have  now 
over  720  miles  of  road  in  operation  this  side  of  San  Francisco 
and  to  the  32d  parallel.  They  built  to  that  point  in  good  faith. 
When  Congress  gave  the  Texas  & Pacific  the  right  to  build  to 
San  Diego,  it  gave  to  this  Company  by  the  same  act,  the  right  to 
connect  with  the  Texas  & Pacific,  at  or  near  Fort  Yuma.  They 
have  complied  with  the  law,  and  when  they  reached  Fort 
Yuma,  they  found  the  Texas  & Pacific  1,250  miles  away,  their 
work  stopped  and  Congress  besieged  for  a subsidy.  The  east- 
ern portion  of  the  Southern  Pacific  runs  for  two  hundred  miles 
through  a desert.  Finding  themselves  at  “ Point-no-point,” 
without  trade  or  population,  they  propose  to  come  east  till 
they  make  connection  with  lines  of  road  running  west  from 
the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  of  Mexico.  They,  therefore,  ask 
of  Congress  the  right  to  come  through  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico  to  the  western  border  of  Texas,  at  El  Paso.  Should 
they  not  meet  any  road  there,  they  intend  (with  the  consent  of 
Texas)  to  build  further  east  until  they  make  a through  con- 
nection. This  is  all  they  ask.  They  do  not  ask  for  govern- 
ment money,  or  bonds,  or  credit,  or  lands.  At  the  last  session 
of  Congress  they  did  ask  for  the  liberal  grant  the  govern- 
ment gave  to  the  Texas  & Pacific,  for  the  same  portion  of  the 
road,  to  wit : the  lands  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  but  they 
are  now  determined  to  build,  and  will  not  embarrass  their  re- 
quest by  any  semblance  of  a subsidy.  This  is  the  whole  case 
of  the  Southern  Pacific. 

And  yet  it  is  opposed  by  the  Texas  & Pacific.  Governor 
Brown,  in  his  address,  alleges  that  this  Company  built  to  Fort 
Yuma  to  prevent  any  other  Company  from  occupying  that 
territory,  and  thus  to  kill  otf  competition  with  the  Central  and 
Union  Pacific  lines.  This  is  very  strange,  and  is  the  second, 
if  not  a sober,  thought.  When  Congress  gave  the  Southern 
Pacific  the  right  to  connect  with  the  Texas  & Pacific,  at  Fort 
Yuma,  no  such  logic  was  heard.  The  Texas  & Pacific  did  not 
then  raise  its  voice  to  protect  the  public  from  this  threatened 
destruction.  It  required  the  failure  of  the  Texas  & Pacific  to 
reach  Fort  Yuma,  and  the  purpose  of  the  Southern  Pacific,  as 
a matter  of  self-preservation,  to  come  east  to  El  Paso  (and 
further,  if  necessary),  to  make  an  all-rail  connection  between 
the  Pacific  and  the  Lower  Mississippi  on  the  Gulf,  to  arouse 
this  virtuous  alarm  in  the  breast  of  the  Texas  & Pacific.  But 


15 

/ 

this  is  all  “ a trick  of  the  trade.”  The  Southern  Pacific  has 
not  the  exclusive  right  of  way  along  a mile  of  its  line,  and  it 
does  not  ask  for  the  exclusive  right  now.  Mr.  Scott  can  build 
a road  to  San  Diego  or  San  Francisco  side  by  side  of  the 
Southern  Pacific. 

GULF  AND  LOWER  MISSISSIPPI  CONNECTIONS  DESIRED. 

Another  alarm  given  by  Governor  Brown  is,  that  the  South- 
ern Pacific  will  not  come  to  El  Paso,  but  intends  to  turn 
northeast  from  Maricopa  Wells,  in  Arizona,  and  run  to  Santa 
Fe.  And  he  bases  his  conclusion  on  a letter  of  General  Sher- 
man, in  which  he  says,  writing  to  a director  of  the  Southern 
Pacific:  “lam  informed  your  Company  will  build  to  Santa 
Fe,  &c  ” General  Sherman  was  not  so  informed  by  an  officer 
of  the  Company.  Mr.  C.  P.  Huntington,  the  New  York  agent, 
states  most  positively?  and  gives  his  reasons  for  it,  that  the 
Company  never  has  intended  to  build  to  Santa  Fe  or  anywhere 
else,  except  to  El  Paso,  and  further  east,  if  necessary,  to  con- 
nect with  the  Gulf  and  Lower  Mississippi.  This  ought  to  be 
sufficient,  but  his  reasons  are  conclusive.  They  are  (1.)  That 
it  would  cost  three  times  as  much  per  mile  to  build  into  and 
through  the  mountains  about  Santa  Fe ; (2.)  Because  Santa 
Fe  offers  nothing  as  an  objective  point ; (3.)  Because  by  build- 
ing to  El  Paso  the  Company  will  have  600  miles  more  of  line 
against  about  300  to  Santa  Fe,  and,  therefore,  would  make 
more  ; and  (4.)  The  carrying  trade  in  ores,  minerals,  grain 
and  stock  will  be  far  more  profitable  to  the  Gulf  and  Missis- 
sippi than  to  or  from  Santa  Fe. 

Another  objection  by  Governor  Brown  is  this : that  the  South- 
ern Pacific  is  the  Central  Pacific  in  disguise,  and  the  Central 
is  a huge  monopoly  ; and  the  Governor  very  adroitly,  in  his 
address,  calls  the  Union  Pacific  the  Central  Pacific.  The  Cen- 
tral Pacific  runs  from  San  Francisco  to  Ogden — 883  miles. 
The  Union  Pacific  runs  from  Omaha  to  Ogden — 1032  miles. 
They  are  distinct  in  organizations,  officers,  property,  in  fact  in 
everything.  They  are  as  distinct  as  the  Central  Road  and  the 
Western  and  Atlantic  in  Georgia.  But  Governor  Brown  says 
the  Central  is  a monopoly.  This  is  true  in  one  sense.  It  does 
monopolize  all  business  done  by  rail  between  Ogden  and  San 
Francisco.  So  does  every  railroad  between  its  own  termini, 
unless  it  has  a neighbor  parallel.  The  Texas  and  Pacific  is  a 
monopoly  already  from  Marshall  to  Fort  Worth.  It  would 
be  no  less  a monopoly  if  built  to  San  Diego.  The  Western 


16 


and  Atlantic,  from  Atlanta  to  Chattanooga,  is  that  kind  of  a 
monopoly. 

GOVERNMENT  CAN  CONTROL  EITHER  ROAD. 

But  it  is  not  true  that  the  Central  Pacific  and  the  Southern 
are  one.  The  charters  are  different.;  their  rights  are  different, 
and  many  of  the  stockholders  in  the  Southern  have  no  interest 
in  the  Central. 

But  if  Governor  Brown’s  alarms  were  well  founded — if  the 
objection  was  ingenuous  and  virtuous — if  it  was  made  by  some 
one  else  than  the  second  Vice-President  of  the  projected  pos- 
sible prolongation  of  the  Southwestern  tail  end  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Central  Combination  Railroad  Monopoly,  even  then 
there  would  be  nothing  in  it,  for  the  following  good  and  suf- 
ficient reasons  : 

First  : — With  but  one  stockholder  l<*ft  out  of  the  Southern 
Pacific,  there  would  be  a majority  remaining  who  own  no 
stock  in  the  Central  Pacific.  This  answers  the  unadvised,  if 
not  reckless,  statement,  that  the  Central  Pacific  and  the  South- 
ern Pacific  are  one. 

Second  : — When  the  Southern  Pacific  is  built  to  El  Paso, 
it  will  be  1320  miles  long — the  Central  is  883.  The  owners  of 
1320  miles  of  road  will  not  sacrifice  it  to  883  miles  of  road — 
even  if  the  same  men  owned  both. 

Third: — The  Southern  will  run,  from  Yuma,  six  hundred 
miles  distant  from  the  Central — so  that  the  local  business  over 
the  one  will  not  interfere  with  the  other. 

Fourth  : — The  Southern  Pacific  will  never  be  able  to  extort 
in  through  rates  on  passengers  and  merchandise — because  it 
offers  to  submit  to  Congress  the  regulation  of  through  rates 
and  to  pro  rate  with  any  road  or  roads  connecting  with  it 
from  the  Atlantic’ and  Gulf — or  either. 

Can  Colonel  Scott  or  Governor  Brown  offer  anything  more 
than  this  in  return  for  thirty-eight  millions  subsidy  ? 

Fifth  : — The  South  cannot  be  worse  off  than  she  is  now — 
even  should  the  Southern  Pacific  charge  the  full  rates  of  the 
Union  Pacific.  We  now  have,  practically,  no  connection  with 
California  except  through  New  York,  or  Philadelphia  via 
Chicago  to  San  Francisco. 

The  question  with  the  South  is  simple  but  grave.  Will  she 
have  a road  through  Texas  to  the  Pacific,  whose  connections 
are  on  southern  soil.  If  yes,  then,  the  only  hope  of  one  for 
many  years  is  in  the  Southern  Pacific.  The  Texas  & Pacific 


17 


cannot  build  without  a subsidy,  and  when  we  resolve  to  give 
any  company  money  enough  out  of  the  public  treasury  to 
build  a road,  let  us  organize  a genuine  southern  company,  and 
' get  what  tve  want.  No  private  enterprise  in  the  South  can, 
with  its  own  means,  build  from  Fort  Worth  to  Yuma.  The 
distance  is  1,250  miles,  and  the  country  poor,  dry  and  unpro- 
ductive. But  the  Southern  Pacific  offers  to  build  and  will 
build  without  a dollar  of  subscription  from  the  South. 

REASONS  FOR  DISTRUSTING  THE  TEXAS  PACIFIC. 

What  that  company  wants  is  a clear  title  to  the  right  of  way 
through  the  territories.  Gov.  Brown  says  they  have  it  al. 
ready.  It  is  true  that  Congress,  in  1875,  passed  a general  law 
authorizing  any  company  to  build  through  any  territory  and 
giving  it  certain  privileges,  but  Congress  reserved  the  right  to 
alter,  amend,  or  repeal  that  statute.  A repeal  before  a com- 
pany had  acquired  vested  rights  under  that  statute,  would 
leave  no  right  to  any  company  except  it  might  be  by  territo- 
rial legislation.  But  even  that  is  subject  to  the  approval  of  Con- 
gress. Besides,  Congress  granted  to  the  Texas  & Pacific,  in 
1871  and  1872,  18,000,000  acres  of  land  (see  Gov.  Brown’s  ad- 
dress, page  20,)  along  the  line  which  the  Southern  Pacific  will 
occupy  if  permitted.  These  acres  were  at  once  withdrawn 
from  the  market  by  the  Government,  and  are  claimed  to-day 
by  the  Texas  & Pacific.  That  company  having  failed  to  com- 
ply with  its  duty  to  build,  should  no  longer  be  permitted  to 
hold  in  mortmain — yes,  literally,  in  dead  hands — those  mil- 
lions of  acres.  They  should  be  placed  on  the  market  again, 
and  at  once,  so  they  could  be  bought  from  the  Government  by 
settlers  along  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  as  it  progresses. 
This  is  but  justice  to  any  company  that  will  build,  with  its 
own  money,  a road  through  a region  so  uninviting  in  agricul- 
tural resources.  Every  available  arable  acre  ought  to  be  on 
the  market  to  yield  something  for  local  freight. 

Gov.  Brown  cannot  see  why  the  Southern  Pacific  opposes  his 
demand  for  a subsidy.  It  will  be  a much  harder  task  for 
him  to  give  to  Congress  or  to  you  a satisfactory  reason  for 
his  opposition  to  a company  which  offers  to  the  South,  free 
of  cost,  a public  highway  to  the  Pacific,  and  for  importuning 
Congress  to  vote  away  money  enough  for  that  purpose,  to  be 
handled  and  spent  by  a Pennsylvania  company  which  for 
years  has  been  handicapped  by  its  greed  for  railroads — which 
for  many  seasons  has  been  torpid  of  healthful  diet  and  di- 


18 


gestion,  with  seventeen  northern  roads  in  its  anaconda  stom- 
ach, and  which,  like  Mark  Twain’s  jumping  frog,  is  shotted 
down  to  the  throat,  and  is  vainly  stretching  its  neck  for  a 
leap  to  the  West  while  held  to  the  ground  by  its  jockied 
body  in  the  East. 

THE  PENNSYLVANIA  MONOPOLY  TO  BE  HELPED  OUT  OF  THE 

TREASURY. 

Governor  Brown,  finding  it  necessary  to  meet  the  objection 
to  the  immense  subsidy  asked  for  by  him,  pleads  a set  off 
against  the  Southern  Pacific.  The  process  of  ratiocination  (to 
say  nothing  of  the . progress  in  the  art  of  logic)  by  which  he 
makes  out  his  defence,  is  almost  original.  He  says  to  you  in 
his  address,  that,  to  permit  the  Southern  Pacific  to  build  to  El 
Paso,  with  its  own  money,  would  be  to  grant  further  aid,  that 
is,  would  be  the  giving  of  a subsidy  by  Congress.  And  he  ar- 
rives at  this  conclusion  in  the  following  novel  method.  He 
says  : “ Whereas  Congress  granted,  in  1864,  a subsidy  to  the 
Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company  ; and  whereas  some  of  the 
stockholders  in  the  Central  Pacific  are  also  stockholders  in  the 
Southern  Pacific,  now,  therefore,  if  all  of  the  stockholders  in 
the  Southern  Pacific  were  to  use  their  own  money  in  building 
from  Fort  Yuma  to  El  Paso,  that  would  be  “ further  aid,”  or 
as  bad  as  granting  another  subsidy  now  to  the  Texas  and  Paci- 
fic. A indorses  a note  for  B for  five  thousand  dollars  payable 
ten  years  after  date,  and  A sells  the  note  to  C,  gets  the  money 
and  seeks  to  invest  the  money  in  a house.  D then  asks  A to 
indorse  his  note  for  ten  thousand  dollars  that  he  may  buy  the 
same  house.  A says  “ no,  I am  already  liable  for  five  thousand 
dollars  by  indorsing  B’s  note.”  “ But,”  says  D,  “if  you  per- 
mit B tq  buy  that  house  with  that  money,  it  will  be  as  bad  for 
you  as  if  you  were  to  indorse  for  me  for  ten  thousand  dollars 
more,  and  let  me  buy  the  house.”  “ That  wont  do ,”  Gov. 
“No,  sir  ! that  wont  do  ! ” — (Congressional  Record,  passim.) 

The  people  of  the  South  cannot  be  convinced  by  this  logic, 
however  much  they  may  admire  its  desperate  ingenuity.  They 
are  not  to  be  so  easily  overwhelmed  as  was  poor  Moses,  in  the 
Vicar  of  Wakefield,  when  a very  similar  syllogism  was  hurled 
at  him  by  the  Squire  : “I  proceed  to  observe  the  concatena- 
tion of  heterogenous  circumstances,  proceeding  in  a reciprocal 
duplicate  ratio,  naturally  produce  an  analytical  dialogism, 
which  iii  some  measure  proves  that  the  essence  of  spirituality 
may  he  referred  to  the  second  predicable.” 


19 


The  people  of  the  South  want  a road  to  the  Pacific,  and 
want  it  now— not  twenty  years  hence— and  they  must  not  be 
charged  with  stupidity  if  they  fail  to  see  that  the  Govern- 
ment will  be  in  no  better  condition  by  becoming  liable  for 
over  ninety- six  million  dollars  (the  amount  of  interest  on 
your  bonds  at  5 per  cent,  for  50  years)  than  it  will  be  by 
allowing  the  Southern  Pacific  to  do  the  very  work  proposed, 
without  any  “ further  aid  ” whatever. 

But  the  Southern  Pacific  has  a satisfactory  reason  for  offer- 
ing "this  subsidy.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  Southern 
was  authorized  to  build  to  Fort  Yuma,  and  to  connect  there 
with  the  Texas  & Pacific.  The  Southern  did  not  then  object  to 
the  subsidy  of  forty  million  acres  given  to  the  Texas  & Pacific. 
But  since  the  Southern  has  complied  with  the  law— has  built 
to  Yuma— it  does  object  to  a fresh  grant  of  subsidy  which 
will  enable  Mr.  Scott,  without  a dollar  of  stockholders’  money, 
to  build  a road  to  run  side  by  side  with  the  Southern  Pacific 
built  by  a private  company  with  its  own  money.  This  would 
be  unjust,  especially  as  the  rates  of  freight  over  the  South- 
ern Pacific  will  be  under  control  of  Congress. 

Besides,  the  Southern  Pacific  cannot  afford  to  wait  in  a 
desert  for  the  Texas  & Pacific  to  come  to  it,  over  a stretch  of 
1,250  miles,  especially  as  this  cannot  be  done  without  a sub- 
sidy, and  there  is  slight  hope  of  one  from  Congress.  The  South, 
ern  Pacific  would  wait  perhaps  forever  if  it  depended  on  the 
Texas  & Pacific  for  an  eastern  connection.  Hence  that  Com- 
pany desires  action  by  Congress  so  as  to  know  whether  another 
Company  (the  Texas  & Pacific)  will  be  paid  by  the  public  to 
do  what  the  Southern  Pacific  intends  to  do  without  pay. 

HOW  IS  THE  SOUTH  AFFECTED  BY  THESE  RIVAL  PROPOSALS? 

Governor  Brown  seems  to  be  serious  when  he  speaks  of 
“ objections  (to  the  Texas  & Pacific  subsidy)  which  are  being 
sedulously  and  mischievously  circulated  for  the  purpose  of 
defeating  the  present  bill,  by  dividing  and  disturbing  the 
Southern  mind  in  its  hitherto  almost  unanimous  support  of 
the  measure.”  This  Company  and  the  granting  of  subsidies 
must  have  grown  wonderfully  since  I was  in  the  Senate.  True, 
I was  from  the  beginning  of  this  application,  by  Mr.  Scott, ^op- 
posed to  his  scheme.  I examined  into  it  carefully  when  in 
the  Senate,  and  my  conclusion  then  was,  and  still  is,  that  Mr. 
Scott  does  not  mean  to  defraud  the  stockholders  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Central  and  its  feeble  adopted  foster  children.  I 


respect  him  too  much  to  think  so  ill  of  him.  I cannot  believe 
he  wishes  to  take  bread  out  of  their  mouths  and  put  it  into 
ours.  And  believing  this,  I was  not,  and  am  not,  willing  to  give 
him  what  little  bread  the  South  has  to  feed  his  numerous  rail- 
road family. 

If  Congress  is  almost  unanimous  for  this  subsidy,  the  people 
certainly  are  not.  The  House  Resolution,  passed  during  the 
last  session,  declaring  its  opinion  in  opposition  to  all  subsidies, 
may  have  been  Pickwickian.  I do  not  so  understand  it.  You 
certainly  do  not.  If  I have  circulated  or  shall  circulate  among 
you  any  “mischievous  information”  to  disturb  your  “almost 
unanimous  support”  of  this  raid  on  the  Treasury,  I have  no 
doubt  that  my  friend,  Governor  Brown,  will  forgive  me.  He 
is  a Southern  man  like  myself,  and  I accord  to  him  the  same 
desire  to  serve  his  section  that  animates  me.  I know  he  would 
not  knowingly  mislead  you.  His  devotion  to  the  South  has 
been  exemplified  in  more  ways  than  one.  But,  on  this  sub- 
ject, I fear  the  Governor  has  “zeal  without  knowledge.”  One 
thing  is  certain,  we  cannot  be  injured  by  aiding  the  Southern 
Pacific  to  get  the  right  of  way  to  El  Paso,  and  to  have  the 
lands  along  the  line,  now  withdrawn  from  market  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, made  subject  to  settlement.  This  requires  nothing  but 
an  Act  of  Congress.  On  the  other  hand,  as  I have  shown,  we 
would  almost  certainly  be  damaged  beyond  remedy  by  giving 
to  the  Texas  & Pacific  the  aid  it  requires. 

In  speaking  so  warmly  for  a true  Southern  railroad,  I do 
not  mean  that  I desire  to  exclude  the  North  from  its  benefits. 
I am  for  a road  from  the  benefits  of  which  the  South  will  not 
be  excluded.  This  is  all  I mean.  And  in  referring  to  Mr.  Scott’s 
intention  to  make  the  Texas  & Pacific  end  at  St.  Louis,  prac- 
tically, I have  not  for  a moment  felt  unwilling  that  St.  Louis 
shouid  reap  all  benefit  she  can  from  a Southern  trans-conti- 
nental road.  To  show  that  I do  not  oppose  the  interest  and 
welfare  of  St.  Louis,  I will  state  that  my  opinion  is,  that  even 
if  Mr.  Scott  had  succeeded  in  his  repeated  attempt  to  build 
the  Atlantic  & Pacific  from  Vinita  southwest,  St.  Louis  would 
have  derived  next  to  no  advantage  from  it,  because  all  freight 
from  the  West  over  the  Atlantic  & Pacific  for  the  East,  would 
not  stop  in  St.  Louis  to  go  down  the  Mississippi,  but  would 
have  gone  on  to  some  Atlantic  port.  And  I have  never  been 
able  to  see  what  interest  the  State  of  Missouri  would  have  in 
fostering  the  Atlantic  & Pacific  ; for  that  line  would  certainly 
interfere  with  her  roads  already  established,  to  wit : the  Mis- 
souri, Kansas  & Texas,  the  Iron  Mountain,  and  the  Missouri 
Pacific. 

T.  M.  NORWOOD. 
Washington,  I).  (J.,  December  1st,  1&78. 


